I'm the cleverest person here, but shh, not a lot of tributes seem to realize that yet and it'll be their downfall.
Inhibitions | Bay & Lincoln.
“Mal. Fine.”
Considering other reactions of Bay when Lincoln had told her about things like alliances before, he had expected more. Screaming or that she would run away again, but he hadn’t expected her to be so indifferent. He looked at her rather surprised, maybe she was just good at hiding her anger by now. He had no idea how to deal with this, he had gotten used to calming her down when she freaked out by now, but this calm and cold Bay was something he couldn’t really deal with.
“Does he know about me? How are we going to meet?”
Lincoln hesitated a moment, before he decided to just go with this like she did. Facts, no emotions. Though it was a hard thing to do for him, emotions were what defined him, especially showing them. And it was known by now that he had a hard time around Bay hiding his emotions anyway. “He knows about you, yes. I made this alliance in the first place to make sure somebody would protect you if something happens to me, and to make sure that we have a few more strengths on our side when we go into the Games”, he explained casually, remembering how Mal had hit him completely unprepared with asking if he could make a fire. He had tried it with Annie by now, but it had barely worked. “Do you mean before the Games? Or in the Games?”, he asked quietly, not wanting to say more than necessary things, and not something that could upset her in the end.
“Are you worried yet?”
Lincoln raised his eyebrow in surprise as he looked at Bay from the side. There suddenly seemed to be such a huge distance between them, a distance he didn’t like and wanted to get rid of again. But he didn’t know how, and he felt oddly uncomfortable next to Bay all of a sudden, a feeling he hadn’t had a lot around her. He slowly pulled his arms away form her, immediately missing the warmth of her body as he rested his chin on his knees, wrapping his arms around his legs instead. He stared in the same direction like she did, searching for something in the Capitol skyline he couldn’t find. “I was worried since I got reaped”, he said quietly, not quite understanding what she was talking about. “But yeah, I get more worried with every day.” It wasn’t a weird thing after all, each day that passed meant they were getting closer to the Games and their deaths, closer to those strategies and thoughts becoming reality. Closer to saying goodybe to Bay. Of course he was worried.
“He knows about you, yes. I made this alliance in the first place to make sure somebody would protect you if something happens to me, and to make sure that we have a few more strengths on our side when we go into the Games.”
Bay made a noise of discomfort when he mentioned about her safety, partially because she was a bit too prideful and believed she could protect herself anyway, but also because he shouldn’t have to feel the need to protect her because he needed to protect himself. It was a shame partially because he wouldn’t be alive and she knew that this method of getting tangled in other tribute’s affairs wasn’t the best way to tackle the Games. How would she fare in the Games, let alone if she won? It’d be excruciatingly painful for her. Even the fear of death sounded more pleasant to her than to be sitting in Victor Village with her life. Bay made a sounded an ‘um’, pulling her mouth to the side but said nothing that formed a proper word.
“Do you mean before the Games? Or in the Games?”
She noted that his voice had suddenly become quiet. In other circumstances, she might’ve asked him what the problem was, but right now she wanted to get all the Games talk done first. It’d be good to finally have some stand as to what they were going to do, despite the fact how much danger the both of them were delving into. “I mean, in the Games,” she pulled a broken smile. To think, her death was going to be brought so soon for all of Panem to see. The thought of it was certainly bewildering and she could only wonder how well it was going to go in the arena. Bay wanted desperately to go back home, like everyone else, but the torture she had to go through first seemed terrifying. The more she thought about it, the more it felt like her mind was stretched and she shook her head quickly, hoping to not appear too weird in front of Lincoln, to get the thoughts out. No point in thinking negatively, seeing as she was here now.
Lincoln retracted himself from Bay and settled onto his knees. She cocked her head, looking at him with curiosity and sympathy. What thoughts could be racing through his head? Bay already figured out that the districts: Three, Five - Twelve, must be feeling a range of fear and sickness, because the likelihood of them winning was worse than the Career districts: One, Two and Four. But it was surprise for Bay to come across Lincoln, someone so innocent and didn’t appreciate the Games in which the other Careers did, not like Marcus from Two. He was a simple guy and maybe he could’ve had more if he hadn’t been reaped. But then they wouldn’t have met and then Bay realized how selfish she was.
“I was worried since I got reaped. But yeah, I get more worried with every day.”
Her mouth skewed to the side, a ghost of a smile on her voice and turned to face him. It was somewhat calming to have someone who was so different to her, to feel the exact emotions as she did. Bay was unsure to leave the distance between them, because everyone needed their alone time, but regardless she shuffled closer, pressing the side of her body against his, nudging him with her shoulder. “No point in worrying,” she breathes bluntly, no point in lying either. “Just got to take it with a grain of salt and move ahead, be positive.” It wasn’t the best advice, she didn’t really offer advice to people who were going to meet their death soon anyway, but hoped she did her best. “I’m kinda curious to see how it’ll all work out,” the statement left her mouth before she realized how bad it could’ve sounded, but she didn’t bother to retract it back either.
Beginner’s Luck || Bay & Illyria.
Illyria watched Bay’s reaction to her statement, noting how distrusting she was to her. But she hadn’t intended for that. She only wanted to see how much Bay wanted to survive. She knew firsthand how she had given up hope to win before and midway through the games. She understood what it was like to give up so suddenly, knowing that there was no chance of winning, yet here she was, mentoring another tribute just like her the year before.
“The last thing I am is an idiot, and I think that District 3, if not every district, knows that we don’t exactly get the best of sponsors.”
She shook her head defensively, not understanding why Bay was acting this way towards her if she wanted her to choose one of them. “I don’t mean to say that you’re an idiot, Bay. What I’m saying is that I feel that it’s wrong to pick one of you guys to solely base our sponsors on. I feel as if you should get an equal chance.” She said with a weak shrug. It was painfully obvious that she was getting off on the wrong foot with her tribute and it was awkward. She remembered herself with her mentor and how easy it was to speak with them, but that was perhaps because she had already accepted death.
“Besides, it’s not like you can spend your money on both tributes; it’s scarce as it is and gifts excel in price towards the end of the Games, so yes, I expect that you and Elijah will have to choose between Fletcher and I…”
Illyria wanted to snap at Bay, to tell her that she knew very well how the games worked. It was only last year she was begging in the arena for sponsors when none came. “Bay, you know you don’t have to be so virulent towards me. I understand your situation quite well.” She reached out and took Bay’s hands in her own and looked her in the eyes. “We’ve both discerned that I should pick one of you, but I don’t think I can. But of course, I will indubitably try to gain as many sponsors for the two of you as possible.” She let her hands go and genuinely smiled. “I’m sure I can get some people to muster some gifts for you.”
She turned her head to the side with a laugh. “Maybe if you were less rancorous, we can guarantee you a few sponsors over Fletcher.”
“I don’t mean to say that you’re an idiot, Bay. What I’m saying is that I feel that it’s wrong to pick one of you guys to solely base our sponsors on. I feel as if you should get an equal chance.”
Bay pulled back slightly, noting how rash she might’ve been towards Illyria, though cared little to how she appeared to Illyria. She was here to train her to kill, fair enough, but getting into the difficulties of choosing which tribute to sponsor was something that she wasn’t supposed to witness. Herself and Fletcher were just meant to act like however they wanted to, and then Elijah and Illyria would figure out which tribute to sponsor once in the arena, simple as. Well, that’s what she figured out anyway. She drew a long sigh in the air, looking down into her lap with shame and the dawn of it weighed on her shoulders lightly.
“Bay, you know you don’t have to be so virulent towards me. I understand your situation quite well.”
She was a little shocked when Illyria had interrupted her words; through the face that was shown on the television and how she presented herself everyday throughout District 3, she seemed like a polite woman, a gentle person but Bay supposed that everyone had their boundaries. It was a little more alarming when she suddenly took her hands into her own and Bay immediately wanted to pull back. It was so quick and rushed and she had no idea how to react. Her social awkward self was beginning to fade back and she could her cheeks burn lightly at the interaction.
“We’ve both discerned that I should pick one of you, but I don’t think I can. But of course, I will indubitably try to gain as many sponsors for the two of you as possible. I’m sure I can get some people to muster some gifts for you.”
Her hands retreated to her lap quickly, eyeing Illyria a little curiously. Bay was a little apprehensive to Illyria’s intentions maybe because she was simply being too kind. After seeing all the things that Bay had witnessed, it was hard not to harden her exterior around everyone, and especially with the Games coming any day, because all the tributes were playing a game to win, so naturally happened with her mentor. Bay sighed, letting a little bit of the stress and the worries fall off her shoulders. Though she shouldn’t be thinking so selfishly, it was nice not to work in the factory for a day or two, although the fact that she would be dead in a couple of days wasn’t a nicer ending to the story. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I guess I’m a little tight up about the Games.” It was hard for her to apologise, seeing as she was a hard-headed person and often was the one who was right.
“Maybe if you were less rancorous, we can guarantee you a few sponsors over Fletcher.”
Illyria’s choice of words did brighten Bay a little, glad that she was able to converse with someone in intelligent conversation. “Yes, I’ll try to be a little less rancorous,” she giggled back, smiling a little softer and relaxing. “So what do we do now?”
Interview || Bay Sparks
Caesar nodded at Bay’s response. It was typical for tributes to reference to their families; he had heard them all before. He knew that the tributes were trained to respond a certain way to his questions and he was supposed to respond to it. He could tell that she was a victim and was not out to play the games like a those of District 1, 2, or 4. “Even if your dad is working, I’m sure he’ll be thinking of you.” He said with a wide smile before turning back to the audience who was enthralled with every word they were saying.
If they had more time, he would’ve allowed for the audience to relish in her words even longer, but time was not on their side. “Well let’s keep moving along, shall we?” he said to the audience before turning back to Bay. “So tell me, Ms. Sparks, what makes you stand out more than the other tributes? Why should we cheer for you, other than the fact that you are stunning?” He laughed as he turned back to the audience once more, reminding himself that this wasn’t only an interview, but a show for the Capitol. “Really now, isn’t she absolutely gorgeous?”, listening to the cheers and hollers from the audience.
“Even if your dad is working, I’m sure he’ll be thinking of you.”
“Why, thank you,” Bay replied, grinning wide politely, trying to look nice. Ugh, it wasn’t easy sitting here under the sparkling, hot lights trying hard to appeal to the audience. How would they perceive her? Would they even notice her one little bit? And then she had to think about the tributes and how they would look at her. Would they care about her? Would they just let her run? Does she even have a chance at all in the arena? She wanted to sigh but kept it in, in order to look calm and reposed. How ridiculous this was. Whatever. It didn’t matter, because she was going to die in a couple of days if she didn’t work hard to win and that was that. Death. How quick it came in her life, compared to others. She wondered how lucky everyone else was briefly before Caesar’s voice rung in her ear.
“Well, let’s keep moving along, shall we? So tell me, Ms. Sparks, what makes you stand out more than the other tributes? Why should we cheer for you, other than the fact that you are stunning?”
She laughed lightly at his compliment, though it was nothing of her doing; simply a doll for them to dress up. Bay was about to answer but he interrupted her again.
“Really now, isn’t she absolutely gorgeous?”
Her grin grew wider. Everyone knew that Caesar was always out to help the tributes in some way and was thankful that he did the same for her. Hearing the cheers from the crowd allowed herself to remember what she was meant to do here, to appeal to everyone and gain sponsors. She hoped that she’d gain one anyway. “Caesar!” She giggled out in protest. “I think that if there’s anyone to compliment, then it must be the audience. So beautiful with such colours and more vivacious designs than I could ever imagine!” She threw her hands up in a craze, laughing a little more openly and relaxing. “And to answer your previous question…” Now what? Would she want to reveal her best trait? No. Only an idiot would. “I think my hair must make me stand out pretty well.” She winked lightly at the audience before smiling again.
Beginner’s Luck || Bay & Illyria.
Illyria walked into Bay’s room, all smiles as she watched Bay’s expression, unimpressed with her. She became self-conscious of how she was going about the whole idea of mentoring. But her smile didn’t falter as she sat beside the girl who seemed already angry with her performance despite having just started.
“Have you chosen between Fletcher and I yet? You know, to fully support through the Games?”
She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, completely unsure of how to answer the bold question. She turned her head to the side, stalling to figure out how to respond as she looked at Bay. She couldn’t tell whether she was extremely smart or exceptionally rude. Or both. “I don’t quite know. Perhaps you can tell me the answer to that.” She said honestly. Sponsors had been tough to gain during her games, seeing as the citizens had 4 tributes from each district to choose from, but she had played out the sibling alliances to their advantage and tried to prove to the crowd that she would not abandon her brother no matter what. It seemed to work, because her mentor had dropped various parachutes to them when they needed it the most. It was when her brother died that the parachutes had stopped arriving.
“Maybe you should convince me to choose you over Fletcher.” She joked lightly. She didn’t plan on picking between the two of them, but knew that she would have to the once the games progressed. But she wouldn’t judge until then. “Do you expect me to choose one of you?”
“I don’t quite know. Perhaps you can tell me the answer to that.”
Though Bay was predicting a more blunt approach to the situation, she wasn’t surprised by Illyria’s reaction to her question. In fact, it had been annoying to a certain degree, but she didn’t let it show. She just continued to look at her and assess her. Although she did admire Illyria for being a fellow District 3 citizen and getting out of the Games alive, it was difficult not to judge someone up close that everyone appears to gush over. After all, this woman could save her life.
“Maybe you should convince me to choose you over Fletcher.”
Bay’s head cocked to the side lightly to the tone of voice she was using. Was this a joke to her? Her shoulders and body pinned to a defensive position as she looked at her mentor with confusion. Was this what it felt like to win the Games? The victors could just act like they didn’t give a damn if their tribute died? Obviously if she wanted to gain attention from both her mentors and the Capitol then Bay would have to try harder. She felt like she was ignored, and that was the last thing she wanted to feel from someone who could be her life saviour in the Games. No, she needed this. She knew nothing of Fletcher’s life, except that he possibly had a lover but what about her? She had a family she needed to support and though none of them wanted to die anyway, Bay was going to try her damn well hardest to get as far as to coming home.
“Do you expect me to choose one of you?”
She scoffed a little before shooting her answer out. “Yes.” Blunt, quick and short. “The last thing I am is an idiot, and I think that District 3, if not every district, knows that we don’t exactly get the best of sponsors.” She shifted towards her mentor, relaxing her shoulders feeing more comfortable than before. She crossed her legs onto the bed, before leaning closer lightly. “Besides,” the words was elongated. “It’s not like you can spend your money on both tributes; it’s scarce as it is and gifts excel in price towards the end of the Games, so yes, I expect that you and Elijah will have to choose between Fletcher and I, to support throughout the Games.” It felt nice to use her extensive vocabulary again, to feel normal again though that feeling wouldn’t last for long.
Inhibitions | Bay & Lincoln.
Lincoln didn’t know what he expected from Bay, it was hard to predict her reactions. Their plans had been vague until know but he knew just too good that she was the one of them who had more plans in mind, who thought about this way more. Lincoln simply acted out of the moment and did what his feelings told him. That was what had led him to Bay in the first place and he would never start regretting his decision. Even if being a feeling-person instead of being a head-person wouldn’t bring him far in the Arena, it would hopefully bring him as far as possible concerning his own happiness. Bay’s eyes closed and he immediately missed looking into her sparkling eyes. They had this magical attraction so that he wanted to pull her closer, surround her with every fibre of his body and protect her from everything there was. Actually, he would even try to hide her from the sun if it wanted to burn her skin.
As he waited for her reaction, he tried to rearrange their plans in his head. He had promised Lara to look after her because she was his District partner, but after talking about it with Bay and thinking about her argument that Lara could just be a second Johanna Mason, he had pushed this promise far away from himself. She would be fine on her own. So it was only Bay left to protect. There was still their plan with running together to the Cornucopia and then get away from it as far as possible and he didn’t think that they needed to change this plan only because he had asked Mal to be his ally as well. Mal would be good for them, he could help them. Everything would be fine.
“Who is it?”
Her voice wasn’t angry and that calmed Lincoln. He tried to keep her as calm as possible in this situation, he continued tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, hesitating a second before he answered. “It’s Mal from District 6. He’ll be helpful, I promise”, he said quietly. Talking louder than a barely audible whisper seemed to be inappropriate in these moments when the situation could fall out of his hands in any second so that he wouldn’t be able to hold everything together anymore.
Lincoln hated this, how the Games hang over them like a dark cloud. All he wanted to do was take Bay with him back into his room again, he wanted to shut the world out and lie down with her in his arms, he wanted to kiss her until his lungs would hurt from the annoying need for air, he wanted to make her feel what he felt for her. He wanted to mark her as his and explore every bit of her whole existence and nobody should ever be able to interrupt him by doing it. Too bad that Lincoln knew that those kisses from seconds ago would probably be all he would ever get.
It was a while before she got an answer out of him, even then she shot him a look of curiosity not anger, bending her neck forward slightly as if to hear him better. She didn’t mind, she supposed, almost rolling her eyes to show her annoyance. Of course, she minded! Alliances never lasted well, she watched the Games far too many times over to understand the problems that came alongside it. But there were pluses to it, she guessed. At least she would analyse their situation before departing; she was confident that she could bring herself to victory, providing that she got past the bloodbath and close to the end. The journey from the beginning would be uncertainty, but that would always be the case, wouldn’t it?
“It’s Mal from District 6. He’ll be helpful, I promise.”
She almost misheard him, because of the sudden volume change. She turned back to stare out into space thinking about the tribute. She knew him enough, they even had a conversation. How good of her to talk to almost every tribute in the building to know them personally; it would benefit. “Mal,” she echoed. What did they talk about? Most of it was small talk, disregarding the Games and having a conversation. He was a little dim, though she could obviously see his upper body build; you would be an idiot to not realize how fast he would be able to kill someone. He was also a bit emotional. Great, she thought with no emotion. Bay turned back around to face Lincoln. “Fine,” she breathed and a normal volume. “Does he know about me? How are we going to meet?”
Bay needed to learn how to stop constantly asking questions. It was in her nature to do so. Maybe she would just find out in the arena. “Are you worried yet?” She asked in a casual tone. It didn’t hit her quite yet, the brutality of it all, but she knew that once she stood on her podium and the counter would diminishing to a zero that she would realize that she was competing in the 76th Hunger Games.
Beginner’s Luck || Bay & Illyria.
Illyria kept a smile plastered to her face as she stepped through the doors into the Capitol building. There were citizens all around, their faces close to the windows looking into the building trying to get a glimpse of the mentors and tributes, but it was only Illyria that was in the lobby. As she stepped into the elevator, she waved at the onlookers before the doors closed. As soon as she was away from the spotlight, she loosened her face and dropped her smile. She shuffled her feet in nervousness, unsure of what she was entitled to do now that she had arrived at the Capitol.
The elevator pinged for level three and she pulled herself together again walking into the silent hallway and into her room. She dropped off her stuff and was about to exit her room before she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She stopped and stared at her reflection, a look of excitement and joy on her face, yet she knew that on the inside she was slowly falling. Illyria pulled herself from the image and quickly exited her room and went to knock on the next. She had to speak with her tributes.
When the door opened to reveal a girl about the same height as herself, but with fiery red hair, she could only assume that it was Bay Sparks. She stuck her hand out, “I take it that you’re Bay Sparks! It’s so nice to meet you. I’m your mentor, Illyria Mora.” She wasn’t entirely sure whether she sounded too excited or too fake, but she was completely new to this, unsure of how she was going to be able to mentor children to survive a game of death.
“I take it that you’re Bay Sparks! It’s so nice to meet you. I’m your mentor, Illyria Mora.”
The utmost happiness of voice made Bay raise an eyebrow in curiosity and annoyance. It was rather frustrating seeing as she seemed to act like a Capitol citizen herself, so completely fake and plastered. There was no sympathy and no realization that she was going to play with the stakes of Bay’s life. She breathed a sigh, shifting on her bed to look at her mentor fully. “I know who you are,” she said with a little fear and shrugging her shoulders in awkwardness. She didn’t want for Illyria to hate her, but seeing as she was going to die in a couple of days, it didn’t seem worth to keep up manners. Besides, she was meant to meet her a while ago, was she not?
“So,” she started again. “Have you chosen between Fletcher and I yet?” She folded her arms defensively over her chest. “You know, to fully support through the Games?” Bay was anything, but stupid. She knew that getting money wasn’t so bad for her district, but sponsoring was still scarce. The amounts of money that people poured into these things were huge, so it was only natural to assume that one tribute was supported throughout the Games, the other left to die. Whatever, she thought bitterly. She wanted to live, so she was going to do whatever she could to get back home.
Window Shopping | Sheen & Bay.
“I’d say it was more than a thing.”
This development didn’t surprise Sheen after Wex’s angst over betraying April, though he had rid himself of those misgivings pretty quickly. Sheen guessed that there had been some kind of drama between them. Whatever it was, it didn’t belong in the Games.
“Do you know the full brunt of it or shall I tell you? It was a lot more than to do with the tributes.”
Sheen bit back a laugh. Was Bay actually offering her gossip? She had struck Sheen as the kind of girl who considered herself above such frivolous pursuits as bitching and gossiping; maybe it was time to re-evaluate.
“Sure.” Somewhat of a gossip merchant, Sheen was a strong believer in the power of information. It was her currency. You could buy, bribe and blackmail anyone if you had the right intel. Plus – though she wouldn’t admit it for all the skeletons in President Snow’s closet – Sheen kind of liked feeling like she was friends with Bay, that Bay trusted her with secrets (no matter if they weren’t her own). “Dish the dirt.”
“Sure. Dish the dirt.”
Bay almost laughed at her replying, knowing that she would never reject information. Any kind of information could be useful to everyone in the arena and if it was beneficial of Bay to get them off the scent of her, then that would be marvellous in the arena. Licking the last of her ice cream off her spoon, she smiled wide and brushed a little of her hair back. “I spoke to her before this, like before I knew about everything she did.” Bay shrugged her shoulders a little and remembered what she had initially thought of her. She was rather sweet with a gentle aura around her that anyone would feel comfortable in. Although Bay wanted to be alone at the time, she didn’t mind April being there. But when she had mentioned the word Career, she had been scared and ran away.
“She was nice,” Bay mused lightly, a tone of little care in her voice. She really couldn’t care that much over April and had little relation with her anyway; killing her wouldn’t be too bad purely based of the relationship between the both of them. “I mean like, you’ve heard of her now anyway, she wasn’t like that before - not that I’m defending her to any degree.” She giggled a little. “She got with the District 1 tribute, to my knowledge,” she finally said bluntly. Names didn’t matter, not now and not ever. Besides, if Bay showed that she knew their names what would that say about her? She wasn’t stupid and she picked up on the most little of details, so why wouldn’t anyone else? “And then, the District 8 tribute.” She tried to make her speech as unbiased as possible, but who knew?
A tired sigh was released from her throat as she continued. “And then he got stabbed for getting with her by his mentor and he went to the infirmary.” She leaned forward, grinning wide. “And then I got the inkling that something happened between his mentor and April. Fin.” Bay shoved a spoon of ice cream into her mouth and laughed inwardly. Looking at Sheen’s reaction was going to be fantastic.
-illyriamora replied to your post
IT’S NICOLE QURL. NOW LOVE ME.
remember when I told you not to take any more characters because you wouldn’t be able to keep up? who are you
